Believe in nothing, no matter who says it, even if I say it, if it does not agree with your own experience and your own common sense ~ Buddha

I use this line a lot it seems– to the point where you’re probably wondering why I don’t just journal here. I tell you all about it anyway. The answer to that, mon chers, is that, recent posting notwithstanding, I don’t want you to see how long it really takes me to figure this stuff out. Egads!

Harken now to my insight:

I’ve been doing a lot of reading, and writing, and thinking. Listening to calls, reading e-books and posts and generally just absorbing information. To what end? Not sure, really. But at some point I reach critical mass and then SHIT GETS REAL. I look at it as the period of dormancy before the explosive energy of spring.

Much of the information I’ve been absorbing is freely given and that’s great… Yes it is! and here’s what’s even greater, in my opinion, is that Value, freely given has a tremendous flavor of abundance to it (Never tasted abundance? Tastes like honey. Apple honey, I would say.)

And Value begets Value, a free exchange, not a fixed exchange. A fixed exchange implies a fixed idea of value.

I credit Andy Fogarty for pointing me in the right direction with his Destination: Thrive site (with his emphasis on helping people) and Alexis Neely for giving me the prompt for my journalling this morning: How would your business change if your ego wasn’t attached to the dollar amount?

And thus, I started to wonder how I would conduct myself if I was egoless. The highlights are thus:

I would give freely of my expertise without wondering whether I was debasing the coin of the realm

I would share my knowledge freely. I would stop wondering about its value, I would just put it out there.

Epiphanies Don’t Happen in a Vacuum

They other half of giving is receiving. I have recently started to receive such tremendous abundance, but the key was that I recognized it and allowed it to happen.

I attended Bridget Pilloud’s Day of Intention. I wasn’t going to because I didn’t think it was going to be worth it to feel so stretched, financially. Then, Karen Johannessen, a woman I’d never met, contacted me privately and said she felt I would add value to the call, and if it was about the money, she would front my fee.

I noticed my resistance (I could too afford it if I wanted to. What do I really have to learn about intentions anyway?) and I said Yes. But, I said, I believe in fair exchange, and will you please accept a BodyTalk package of mine in return. You see, the boost to my confidence was worth any price to me.

The call was amazing! It took a topic that’s as basic as biscuit dough and made it effective and foolproof. And I did my best to add value, to be worthy of the confidence Karen had in me. Then, I got an email from Jen Hoffman, of Inspired Home Office, offering a Home Office Day Spa as a complimentary gift to her group. I’m an organized person! What do I need that for? Shut up, Resistance. Resistance: 0, Shanna: 2

The opportunities started to stack up. It became a game to say Yes and stomp the resistance. You don’t I should be humble? You don’t think I should put myself out there? You think I better just be a milquetoast version of myself? STOMP! STOMP! STOMP!

And the opportunities keep coming and coming until I’m practically ashamed that I’m not ADDING VALUE ALREADY.

What have I got of value? Nothing. EVERYTHING.

Once I took my ego out of the equation, it became imperative that I let people know that they gave me value. I have been commenting and writing emails and giving feedback for the last week, not knowing quite what I was doing but that I share my gratitude at their insights.

This morning I realized that I could give more. And I’m going to. The people who freely give value, I shall freely return. Skills, services, expertise, anything I can. I don`t need to wait until I’ve ‘made it’ to give back. I can give back NOW.

Why I’m Telling You This

I`m sharing because it`s been such a paradigm busting experience for me. When I shift the focus to gratitude, I became aware of the tremendous value all around. I always knew it was there, but I could never see it. Now, I can.

You see, my bottleneck was that I wanted to add value, but I couldn’t see what I had to offer that was valuable. My ego was too invested in wanting to make sure that whatever I offered was so epically great that Seth Godin himself would call to offer me an autographed copy of The Purple Cow.

So giving became more about me than really helping people.

And by helping the specific people who helped me, I got around the bottleneck of trying to figure out what would help everybody. Tailoring gratitude and value for specific people is a true gift, made with the receiver in mind, and an exercise in abundance for me.

What Happens Now

Do you believe in an abundant universe? Or do you see Value as a monetary commodity with a fixed number?

I’m seeing what will happen if I take my ego out of the game — and I invite you to try it too. Leave your ideas in the comments!

Hi Jennifer, thanks for stopping by. It’s really just blown me away how much EVERYTHING shifts when I take my ego out of the equation. The sense of joy and wonder that you speak of is so true… To open my eyes and see this gratitude surrounding me has been a gift in itself.

Now, I’m noticing that when my ego starts chirping, I get anxious and fretful (I’m a real business person. Why haven’t I got a real website). Now when I notice it, I stop, think about what i AM grateful about, and set about finding someone to thank. And that’s done worlds for me